Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Thundercat is the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies and is also hooked up with Flying Lotus and the Brainfeeder label. He is not a DJ. Instead of doing what a lot of producers do and bang something together he chose the tracks and got Daddy Kev to mix them like a true pro. It's a bit weird but it's better than a bunch of train wrecks or an Ableton auto-mix.

The mix he's, curated, is a steady flow of instrumental hip hop, funk and soul.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Raffertie's first mix for Mary Anne Hobbs back in 2009 is the very first post on this blog. And since then, I think he's quit drinking red cordial. Gone is the HiNRG rave sound, in it's place? Well it's kind of hard to describe. The beats, where present, seem to have been pushed more into the background creating a sound that really fits his new home on Ninja Tune. Ambient sweeps and 303 squelch create an atmosphere that couldn't be imagined listening to his previous work. From someone that once made glowstick dancefloor Choons, this is more for home listening. That being said, I'd love to hear some of these tracks in a club, as there are shadows of his former self here, it's just now coming from someone that sounds like he's grown up.

Very exciting mix by Ben UFO putting tracks from this year up against a selection of 90s gems. Tracks from legendary Detroit labels Underground Resistance and Planet E in their prime period of the early-to-mid 90s. It's interesting how well tracks from 2011 fit with tracks from back then. It's not that they're ripping off that era. Not at all. They don't even sound that much alike, unless it's Boddika messing about with a 303 of course. But even then, you can still easily tell the difference. Artist from back then really relied on what equipment they had where as now the choice for producers is endless. Actually I think this mix is proof of the difference between modern day emulators and the real shit. The mix shows how much modern bass music producers are being influenced by one of the most exciting times in dance music's history. That can only be a good thing I reckon.

Hats off to the annoyingly young Ben UFO for having a cracking taste in music.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Hud Mo on Benji B's Radio 1 show from last Thursday the 4th of August.

Hudson Mohawke made one of my favourite mixes of all time. His July 2008 mix for Mary Anne Hobbs blew my head of and still continues to do so. It was the first so-called wonky (I still hate that name) mix I remember hearing. The off kilter beats were like nothing I'd heard before. I immediately bought all the Heralds Of Change EPs from Boomkat and have been a fan ever since. A debut album and a couple of EPs later, he returns to BBC with an absolutely KILLER mix.

So many highlights here. The new track by The-Dream is modern RnB at it's very best and fits perfectly. The remix of I See U by Lunice is just total Girl Unit - as in he's still a new producer yet he already firmly has his own sound. Jaques Green's Motivation is what the charts would sound like in a perfect world. The new Rustie track is staggering. Rave music hacked up in true serial killer style. Thunder Bay, the biggest track on Hud Mo's new EP is re-done as Thunder B.M.F. The laying down of Rick Ross burnin' money fast is just perfect. An even newer track by the man, Scud Books, is so good it could go up there with FUSE as one of the most exciting and uplifting tracks of the whole wonky (urgh) style. More exciting "pop" music comes in the form of Jhene Aiko's Space Jams. Proof that pop needs more bass. Imagine it was all like this? Walking past clothes shops wouldn't induce nose bleeds...

I did cut the mix short a tiny bit as Benji B was going on a bit. It shouldn't matter as the track that's playing is from the album Butter, which everyone should own by now. If not, you get to hear half of it at least. Now go buy Butter.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

I have a long history with Starkey. He first sprang on to my radar with the amazing track 'Bounce' in 2007. All the dubstep I was into at the time was coming out of the UK and this didn't sound anything like it. With a big hip hop influence it owed more to grime than dubstep. This was just proof that Starkey had been cultivating his own style without influence from the UK scene. It was a refreshing change from a scene dominated and being written by artists like Digital Mystiks, Skream and Distance.

A year later he played on the Generation Bass special hosted by Mary Anne Hobbs. The concept of the show was for artists that appeared on Mary Anne's breakthrough 2007 Dubstep Wars show to choose a set each by an artist they admire. It was the originals of the scene introducing the second generation. Mala chose Silkie, Kode9 chose Joker and Jaime Vex'd chose Starkey. Along with Joker's, Starkey's set became an instant classic. Mostly playing tracks from his forthcoming debut album for Planet Mu, it confirmed him as one of my favourite new artists. With tracks like Miracles and Spacewalk, for a while I had it on constant repeat.

A few months later and that album was released. Titled Ephemeral Exhibits the striking thing about it was how different it was. Still refusing to just rip-off the UK sound, Ephemeral Exhibits is synth heavy, hip hop inspired alien music. And laden with Starkey's amazing gift for melody.

The gap between album one and two gave us the Miracles 12" in 2009. With the Jaime Vex'd remix becoming one of my most played tunes of the year. Also doing the rounds on mixes at the time was a track called Murderous Words. A track seemingly designed to keep me so excited by this producer at all costs. Heavy snyths building uplifting melodies without ever being cheesy. Being up behind the decks when Kito played it one night at Void is one of my favourite memories from running that club.

In 2010 came Ear Drums And Black Holes. Compared to Ephemeral Exhibits, Starkey had come down to Earth. His same basic template was there but now it was a lot more varied. It struck a perfect balance between vocal and instrumental tracks. Murderous Words appeared but now it had a rapper on top of the beats. And it worked perfectly. Numb is a headphone grime masterpiece and Club Games is a brilliant piece of futuristic hip hop. The instrumental tracks were classic Starkey. 11th Hour being my personal highlight. It's rhythm and melody so strong it seems to tell a story without the need for vocals.

So here we are in 2011. I have to admit Starkey has been a bit hit and miss in his mixes over the last few years. Sometimes leaning way to close to the old chainsaw sound everyone with ears got sick of after five minutes. As the below mix proves it's his own productions and remixes that are the highlights. His new track for Ninja Tune hints at great things for the future. His gift for melody and drama still firmly in place. The non-Starkey highlight on this mix is Araabmusik's AT2. One of my favourite tunes this year, it's great to see how perfectly it fits into a mix like this.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Beautiful mix from the New Yorker. The Clarke remix of Kuedo is something I've been smashing recently so it's great to hear it in a mix. And as much as I should be sick of him by now, I still can't help smiling and shaking my head at the undeniable talents of Burial. Also getting a Windowlicker B side is pretty sweet. I liked those B sides immediately when I first bought that single. 12 holy shit years ago. I'm older but like all his work from that period, the music is timeless.

Anyone that's heard a Daedelus mix or seen him play knows what to expect. Frantic electronica and hyper bass music is the order of the day. 29 tracks squeezed into 25 minutes thrashed out in a way only Daedelus knows how.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

From the artist formally known as Machine Drum comes an absolutely killer mix for Mary Anne Hobbs and XFM, 9 July 2011.

Machinedrum has been around for about ten years now and in that time he's tried his hand at too many styles off dance music to mention. Like a lot of people his current obsession is Juke. But unlike the actual juke boys from Chicago, he's not making pure cuts for the dancefloor, instead he's letting it fuse with all the other influences he's collected over the years. This was very apparent in his recent (brilliant) Fact mix where he edited old breakbeat hardcore and jungle records into the juke style. This may seem sacrilegious to some people but it's always been my experience that purists can fuck right off.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Before we get into the MAH mixes I'll get this out of the way. Scuba's set from Sonar this year. I was actually there for this and remember thinking; when did Scuba start playing house music? There's a couple of good tunes in there but it's mainly being posted for my own nostalgic purposes.

By the time Scuba took the stage they were running an hour behind schedule. Before he actually started playing he was standing behind his CDJs with his arms crossed for ages looking a tad grumpy. Provided us with lots of laughs. See pic:

Mary Anne Hobbs is back on the radio hosting mixes so I guess it's time to re-boot this thing. Sure she's posting the mixes on Mixcloud and yes you can use the Mixcloud app to play them when you're out and about, so I guess this blog will be aimed at people still rocking redundant technologies like iPods and shit data plans. I have a backlog of mixes to edit and upload so check back soon.

Thank you Mary Anne. From the Venetian Snares and Bong-Ra Breezeblock mixes I used to get from Soulseek, to editing my first ever mix (Goth-Trad, 20 Feb 2008) to having almost my entire musical outlook changed by one Hudson Mohawke (30 July 2008), your radio show has been a constant source of amazing music. Sure the mixes are short (I mean 15 minutes sometimes?!) but that’s kind of the point. These mixes are showcases. And at an average length of 30 minutes we get nothing but balls out bass and excitement. Perfect for during a stroll or on public transport, we love you for providing a platform for this each and every week. Your unrelenting excitement for new music pretty much bucks the trend for radio hosts. To me you weren’t a Radio 1 DJ, you were a fan, just like the people who tune in every single week. Thanks again and we hope to see you in Australia soon, playing at VOID of course!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

I know I’m shit at updating this blog but I’ve seriously been wanting to get this on here sooner but Mediafire has been knackered. But it’s back and this is Digital Mystikz on Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental, 2nd of September 2010.

Really, it’s 2010. I can’t add to the Digital Mystikz mythos, and anyway, if you’re here you’ll know that Mala and his Mystikz pretty much invented dubstep - and how fitting is for them to appear on one of Mary Anne’s final shows.

The mix is classic Digital Mystikz, deep, dark and slow, but with enough smoky dub to keep things from getting too overwhelming. It’s not as good as their recent masterpiece album, Return II Space but then, that’s a masterpiece. Still a cracking mix from the OGs of the genre and another great send-off for Mary Anne.

N.B. I know the DM album and this mix is just Mala on his own, but I still chose to refer to him/them in the plural for this post. It just sounds better.

This is from what is still one of my favourite dubstep gigs of all time. Mala on a beer fuelled Thursday night at the shithole Abercrombie Hotel in March 2007. The sheer bass weight was amazing and really proved his theory of producing tracks especially for a massive system. That power you don't get on CD/LP. Check out Mark P grabbing his nuts(?!) Proof how good it was. Photo: James Brickwood.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Joker brings his epic grimestep sound back to Mary Anne Hobbs - From the 19th of August, 2010.

No tracklist this time but if you know Joker you know to expect soaring synths, throwbacks to electro-era hiphop and the kind of digital flourishes you’d expect to hear on a hard trance record. Joker also takes his 80s obsession a step further here by dropping a tune from Sonic the Hedgehog! It must be noted that I didn’t know it was from Sonic. I was playing the mix at work when a guy I work with pointed it out. I’m not saying I’m not a geek, I was just always a NES lad.

Friday, August 27, 2010

With Mary Anne’s tenure at the BBC coming to a close the big names have started appearing and to my mind you can’t get much better than Shackleton. One of my favourite artists from any genre, Shackleton is one of the only people still making bass music that doesn’t sound like anyone else. Just download it and let the music tell you the rest…

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Back from a short break (ahem) we have our second exclusive mix! This time it’s from Broken Chip and it seems like another exercise in squeezing in as many as my favourite artists as possible. I don’t know how he knew but any mix containing Stars Of The Lid has my vote. Also melting Loscil into Panda Bear is sheer brilliance!

If you enjoyed the previous exclusive ambient set from Gentleforce, then you need to add this to your collection sharpish.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Final set from the April 29 show is from the man of the hour himself, Flying Lotus. No intros needed, and no track list needed either apparently. The mix is pretty different to the album, which if you don't have by now you are insane. That is all.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Next up is Ras G. Last mix I heard from him descended into some of the worst dubstep I've heard. Luckily this doesn't make the same mistake. In fact this is probably my favourite from the night. Fuck I love that Quasimoto track.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Ever since I started this blog I've been keen on the idea of getting an original mix on here. Not just radio edits and Void promo mixes but a proper original mix made just for this blog. With the release of the debut album by Sydney's Gentleforce I saw my opportunity and fired up the email. What came back far surpassed my expectations. The tracklist is just perfect. All time favourites like Oren Ambarchi and Cloudland Canyon sit alongside recent obsessions like Oneothrix Point Never. And of course the best band in the world, Boris. All these tracks crammed into 40 minutes creates a single beautiful piece you can't afford not to download.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

This is a mix Rudi Zygadlo did for the website Electronic Explorations back in Feb. I don't know how to take this guy. His MAH mix ended up being my favourite of the year, yet it contains wobble! And now he's doing mash-ups! It should be cheesy but somehow it's not. That being said this mix is not for everyone. And if you're looking for the traditional two-turntables-and-a-mixer type mix, then look elsewhere. This is a perfect example of what people should be doing when using their computers to compile a mix. Here's the man himself from the EE website:

“What started out as a mix soon turned into a whole bunch of home-made mashes, set out in a series of chapters and separated by incidental random instrument stabs, plucks and coughs. There are only a few tunes on there that remain unadulterated.

So for the most part, unlikely combinations, accapellas and classical loops, not consecutive songs” Mr Zygadlo

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

I wasn't too excited by the thought of this as I've already thrashed her album since it came out. I was wrong. Hearing the best songs from it smashed together like this makes for a very exciting 16 minutes. Download the mix then go and get the album. In my opinion it's one of the best long players to come out of the post-dubstep explosion.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Vex'd preview their new album Cloud Seed on Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental 11th of March, 2010.

Along with Distance, Vex'd were the first producers that fully showed me the potential of dubstep. Their amazing album Degenerate, although heavier than most, pretty much followed the sparse DMZ/Deep Medi style of the time. With Cloud Seed they're finally bringing their take on dubstep phase 2, when the word started to mean anything slow and full of bass. If they had released these tunes back when they were written, they would have blown the competition out of the water. An absolutely killer mix and a must for anyone into heavy music.

Friday, January 29, 2010

I find some of this hip hop going around, this so-called LA Sound, can be a bit soft and weak sometimes... Shlohmo must have read my mind. Instrumental hip hop with a much needed dose of distortion. It does stray into dubstep territory but doesn't miss a beat. The electric fuzz layering the music works perfectly with whatever beats he's throwing behind it. Another week, another new favourite for the year. Get on it.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

From the 21st of January comes the first truly great MAH Experimental mix of the year. Emika's first ever mix apparently and the main thing that stands out is the thick atmosphere that punctuates it. This might have something to do with the fact that Emika is a sound designer - or some such profession. If you're into thick dark sounds with no "evil" in sight then make sure you check this.

Emika is signed to Ninja Tune which according to this track list, has become plural..

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I discovered this guy from listening to the samples on the Planet Mu website and I was instantly impressed with the production and his ability to get something totally new from the dubstep template - it's still spawning so many awesome sounds! I bought the recordmp3 but only listened to it a few times. Listening the other day I was wondering how his other stuff was going to sound. So I went and found this mix. Not the most interesting story but the result is you lot getting some more music.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Final post of the year and I don't really know what to say about this mix. I know my faith in dubstep has been slipping... But then along comes this. All I know is that I've been playing it on repeat. Fucking sensational.

Someone already found this in my Mediafire account and posted it to dubstepforum so it's already had massive downloads. An actual live set from one of my favourite artists, Rustie. From Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental 10th of December, 2009.
Anyway I think it's a live set. None of the vocal stuff he usually plays in his DJ sets is in there and as suspected (and confirmed at dubstepforum) it's all his own stuff. Great to hear Bad Science, one of the years greatest tracks and also Jagz The Smack! Been a while since I heard that in a set.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

From the same show as the Peverelist mix and a great way to show how dubstep has become more of an umbrella term than techno once was. Imagine explaining to an alien that the style of music on both of these mixes is called dubstep. Especially when there's a million names for all the different kinds of house music that all sound pretty much the same... I guess that's how dubstep got tagged as being "experimental".

I'm not too sure about Reso. Metal Slug was a fucking wicked track but after that he became a bit too drum n bassey for my tastes. But then he goes and samples one of the best movies of all time so I had to dip my hat to that. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there unconvinced by Reso, but even if you are you should try this mix as it's quite good. Way more subdued than his productions. OK maybe not way more... (I have it in the headphones now and some chainsaw-type sounds just started. I gotta listen to these things more before I start crapping on about them...)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

From Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental 3 December 2009. As much as I find it hard to get excited by most dubstep these days I was looking forward to this quite a lot. Not that I'm that into Peverelist's tunes, but for the fact he did easily one of the best mixes for MAH last year. He straddled the line of minimalism without ever getting boring or repetitive and has repeated the trick really well with this new mix. Not really a contender for mix of the year this time (more to do with my tastes right now than the mix being not as good), it's still an awesome sequel to last years masterpiece.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

From the same show as the Ben Frost set, I wonder with most people creating their mixes on their laptops these days, why can't more be like this? All these songs in 15mins, truly a mix for today's iPod orientated world. Great fun also.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Fucking sensational mix by Australia's Ben Frost from Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental 12th of November 2009. After releasing one of the best albums of 09, we also get treated to this amazing set of tunes that really justifies the name of Mary Anne's show. I have it going again through the headphones as I type this and I really can't imagine how to describe it. If you're even remotely into left field music then jump on this ASAFP.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Killer mix by Modeselektor from Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental 29th of October, 2009. I was let down by their recent mix CD and was starting to think that they should maybe stick to the studio, but this mix has turn me right around. Really recommended.

Friday, July 17, 2009

This came out of nowhere. It wasn't in the "coming up" section and after falling in love with the new album Totems Flare, I couldn't have got a better surprise than this, Clark doing a 30 minute mix for Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental for the 15th of July 2009.

No tracklist again this week but I can tell you it's a good one. Opening with a track from what was easily one of my favourite albums from last year, Harvey Milk's Life... The Best Game In Town, just blew me off my fucking seat. Headbanging at my work desk did follow. Then mixing from that into Rainbow Voodoo, one of the highlights from Totems Flare, made me realise I was about to get into one of the best mixes from the show all year. A few more tracks from the album are on there and other artists like Zomby get an airing as well.

One thing though, when he launches into Hypnotize by Biggie, a track I fucking adore, all the swearing has been taken out and it sounds FUCKING SHIT. That's one thing that's always bugged me about the MAH show. It goes out at 3 in the morning, yet they constantly edit swearing. I just think if you're the kind of person that gets offended by swearing in music, don't listen to the radio at 3am! It's not like it's prime time, yet we're subjected to versions of songs that sound like they're being played on some Video Hits type show. And with hiphop, there's more that's cut out than what's left in! So we get to hear Biggie rap every fourth word. Awesome. In this it sounds like he's fucked it up a bit more to kind of hide the swearing edits but, it doesn't work. Leave the swearing in or don't fucking play hiphop. Simple.

Anyway that's seriously the ONLY downside of what is an incredible mix.

Friday, July 10, 2009

I'd been meaning to check out Mochipet for a while. I was going to download his XLR8R Podcast but after browsing the tracklist it looked a bit too much like a silly mashup set so I didn't bother. And after listening to his MAH mix, yes it is like that but he just pulls it off somehow. Silly animal costumes and all.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I don't normally post mixes before hearing them but I'm just too excited about this. It's different to pretty much everything that’s been posted on this blog, but the tracklist just looks too delicious not to share.
The only Subway tracks I have are from the latest Soul Jazz Singles collection and they definitely stand out from the rest. The sound has so much in common with the electronic music of the 70s, especially stuff from Germany, but still retains a modern feel, and never feels like a pale imitation. Subway's German influence is very obvious here with tracks in this mix from Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Harmonia (which is what their Soul Jazz tracks most sound like) and the more recent sounds of Basic Channel.
They also play a few legendary bands from the noise scene, including personal favourites Wolf Eyes and Black Dice.
They also play a tune from one of the Stereolab/Nurse With Wound collaborations - I never got around to hearing this so I'm pretty excited.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Hopefully most of you downloaded the amazing TOKiMONSTA Brainfeeder podcast from a few weeks back, cause if you did you'll know what to expect and I can write as little as possible. The quick version is LA's TOKiMONSTA, signed to Flylo's Brainfeeder label and making very exciting instrumental music using a wide variety of real and computer-based instruments. It's always good to hear real instruments being used in this type of music and it gives TOKiMONSTA's sound a vintage quality which is a total win in my opinion.

This mix by Brooklyn's Kotchy really blew me away. It's like he's deconstructed hiphop and then rearranged it in a variety of different forms, from the bare bones minimalist vibe at the start to the more straight up vocal stuff further in. I recommend this mix to everyone. You don't have to be into hiphop, in fact sometimes it strays so far you don't know what to call it! But underneath is the spirit and soul of hiphop.

You might have heard the song One For The Money. Awesome, awesome tune. It comes in at about 4.35 if you're counting. Such a good track.

For the final mix of this week's show we have some more Austrian madness along the lines of Dorian Concept. More vocal than DC which really changes the dynamic, in a good way though, creating something a bit more accessible and (a word I always hate to use) funky.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I discovered Clubroot from his Mary Anne Hobbs mix back in early March (just before I started this here blog) and have been meaning to post his mix for ages.
Originally broadcast on the 11th of March sandwiched in between Boxcutter and Jega, you'd think that sharing a show with those two he would be in danger of being overshadowed, so I was happy to be blown away as soon as this started coming through my headphones.
I'd heard his set during the day while listening to the entire show and it sounded pretty good, but it wasn't until after I cut out the mix and played it through my headphones that it really started to make sense. From the very start with its lush synthy intro I was hooked. Then the beat came in and I started to realise how oldschool the mix is, from the garage beats to the rave-like atmospherics. I guess a similar artist would be Burial, but only in the sense that both artists seem to be looking back for inspiration. Whereas Burial creates mood and atmosphere through his recording techniques and "rough" finished product, Clubroot just seems intent on making awesome dance music that captures the spirit of many genres past.

I finally got around to posting this mix (it's been in my Mediafire account for ages) because his album is out this week and judging from the tunes here, it's an essential purchase.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Just two short clips of Kito playing at Void on Friday. When she dropped Murderous Words my night was complete! We had the club darker than normal so not the best footage, but then it's a pretty accurate portrayal of life inside the Void.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Opening the mixes for last week’s show (3 June) is the man that's going to make garage a valuable commodity once more. You might have checked out his FACT mix that I linked last week, either way you should check this out as it's mostly his own tunes including side A of his upcoming record for Planet Mu.

Consider this: You're a young law student from London that also makes beats, you drop some tunes into Mary Anne Hobbs' SoundCloud and a few weeks later you're in the studio for a live interview to talk about the mix you've done. This dude's success story is so modern he even bypasses Myspace...

Final and best mix of the show with most dubstep sounds covered, from the nice dreamy stuff at the beginning to the cartoon style music of the last track. The best track has to be Chainsaw Calligraphy though. It's 'ard as fuck.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

And now for something completely different. The latest podcast from XLR8R brings us an hour and twenty minutes of really nice post-rock. Unfortunately post-rock has become one of the genres with more generic shit being released than actual good stuff, it's just lucky that when the good stuff is good, it's really fucking good. All I have to do is remember the first time I heard tracks like Mogwai Fear Satan or East Hasting by Godspeed and I realise why I do love this genre and why I still give new post-rock bands a chance. So it's good to hear some new stuff that's really exciting. Granted not all of this "mix" is post-rock (XLR8R don't actually use the term when talking about the set, probably due to the site's electronic leanings) and not all of it is, but by the time Six Points Of Fire by Lights Out Asia finishes you're gonna want to buy a guitar. And lots of pedals.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Brackles seems to be blowing up at the moment. With a 12" on the way from Planet Mu and a set on Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental this week, I think we'll see Brackles leading the charge in the re-emergence of all these garage and two step sounds.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

It's battle of the US club nights on this week's Mary Anne Hobbs Show, 27th of May 2009. First off is an epic 48+min mix from the NY club Dub War. One of the best things about this mix is the Darkstar track. You can hear a snippet of it in their Hyperdub Showcase mix from last year but it doesn't do it justice. Those strings building up over the garage beat, bliss. One of those great tracks that's almost cheesy but just manages to pull it off. We need an album from these guys now.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Excellent mix by Gemmy for FACT Magazine. Coming out of Bristol, Gemmy is easily one of my favourite dubstep producers right now, confirmed by the release of the amazing Planet Mu 12" Supligen. Gemmy is all about the Bristol sound, big synths and slow almost-hiphop beats with menacing basslines beneath. Obviously a must for Joker fans.

Monday, May 25, 2009

AGF/Delay released their second album this year and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I really like both artists on their own, AGF's 2008 album Words Are Missing was one of my favourites of the year, but something about the album didn't really click with me. I enjoyed it and all I just found that after a few weeks I kind of forgot it was there. I might have another go now after hearing this mix. The tracklist is one I normally dream about with amazing artists like William Basinski, Fennesz and Steve Reich alongside more mainstream names like Tricky and Ms Dynamite. It might seem a bit ambitious but it works extremely well, creating a mix that's organic and human while being synthetic and alien at the same time. Very recommended.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

You probably know this track well as it's been around a while and was featured in Starkey recent mix CD for the Lo Dubs label. I guess it's not getting a proper release as Joker recently posted it for free on the Dubstep Forum.

Finally some decent length mixes this week, the first is an awesome dubstep mix from Various Production. You never know what you're going to get with these guys and this mix is no different. Although being around since pretty much the start of dubstep, VP seem to come across as outsiders, maybe because they have an edginess to their tunes that's not present in most of the dancefloor orientated dubstep coming out of the UK. And also because their first album had a few tracks that were just vocal and acoustic guitar, something you wouldn't find on a Benga album that's for sure...

Highlights include the synth heaven of Starman and the insane Drink It featuring MC Vex. And the vocal track near the end is MC Vex also, not Mike Skinner...

Friday, May 15, 2009

First set of the night for Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental 13th of May 2009. I was excited about this mix as I'm always interested in the artists Planet Mu chooses to sign. You never really know what you're in for. The first track of the mix is absolutely killer. You may remember Jaime Vex'd closing with it in the mix I posted by him a whiles back.

The album comes out on the 8th of June on Planet Mu. I'll definitely be making the purchase.

More Glitch Mob madness this time from side-project PANTyRAiD. Way more dubstep influenced than the jaw-dropping Boreta mix from last week, but of course being American dubstep there's a heavy hiphop and electro influence. It's almost worth downloading this just to hear the first drop 39 seconds in. Make sure you turn it up LOUD.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Goth-Trad is coming back for more shows next month so I thought I'd post the drunken videos I took when he played here last time. They're short but the sound is decent enough. Photos from the night here.